Project: Death and Afterlife in Dialogue
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Death and Afterlife in Dialogue

Toward an Intercultural and Interreligious Eschatology

The processes of globalization and the growing awareness of the contextual nature of global Christianity have presented a dual challenge for theology: first, to recognize the plurality of cultures both within and outside the Christian tradition (interculturality); second, to acknowledge the interactions between Christianity and the global macrocosm of religious diversity, which also replicates in local microcosms (interreligiosity). In response to this dual challenge, the project investigates the possibility of an intercultural and interreligious theology that encourages the collaboration between Western and non-Western, Christian and non-Christian voices in a global forum of decolonized, critical-constructive dialogue.

Given the universality of death and its multiple interpretations found in religious traditions across the globe, eschatology is an ideal subject for the application of an intercultural and interreligious theology. However, theological reflection on death and afterlife has been neglected in the context of intercultural and interreligious scholarship. It is crucial for global theological research to address this desideratum, not least because the meaning of human existence in the present is often established by anticipating its final goal, which has significant implications for religious, social, and political life.

The project is concerned with four case studies which explore the theological challenges and opportunities for Christian eschatologies that constructively draw on non-Christian conceptions of death and afterlife in dialogue with Hindu, Buddhist, and Chinese traditions.

  • Life after death? (eschatological anthropology)
  • One or many lives? (pareschatology)
  • Salvation(s)? (individual eschatology)
  • A new hope for the poor of all traditions? (collective eschatology)

  • Research Objectives

    1. Constructive Intercultural and Interreligious Theology: What are the theological challenges for a Christian eschatology that constructively draws on non-Christian images and conceptions of death and afterlife?
    2. Mapping the Debate: What is the current status of debate in the fields of intercultural and interreligious eschatological reflection? What are the interconnections between hitherto disparate areas of eschatological discourse? What further avenues might be pursued in future proceedings in intercultural and interreligious eschatology?
    3. Toward a Methodology for Intercultural and Interreligious Theology: What impulses can be gleaned from eschatological discourse to advance the methodological debate in intercultural and interreligious theology?

  • Project Publications

    • Schneider, Mathias: Toward an Interreligious Eschatology. Hermeneutical, Methodological, and Systematic Considerations, in Barbato, Melanie/Schneider, Mathias/Völker, Fabian (eds.): Beyond Boundaries. Essays on Theology, Dialogue, and Religion in Honor of Perry Schmidt-Leukel. Religions in Dialogue 22 (Münster/New York: Waxmann, 2024), 87-97.
    • Schneider, Mathias: Crossing the Threshold. John Hick's Interreligious Eschatology and Its Hindu and Buddhist Influences. Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 33:2 (2023), 155-182.

    Find a complete list of publications of Mathias Schneider on Academia

Funding by

© Uni MS | CRM